Fresh flowers for the table at dinner last night. I need to make a sweep through the house and throw out no-longer-fresh flowers from two weeks ago . . . if only I stayed on top of these things, but I don't.
Today: I've written one Sun essay already this morning, on Claude McKay's "Summer Morn in New Hampshire," as I was drinking my first cup of coffee, so am feeling accomplished. This afternoon, Dora goes to the vet for the appointment I thought was last week, so I'm trying to make use of the morning, and to get on with copy editing for an hour or so as well before I have to gather my dog and my internal resources and get in the car.
Here is Dora helping the little Artgirl with some research:
A working dog needs a job, amirite?
Must needs get dressed and walk that working dog before I return to my own work.
Wearing today:
Dawg-wranglin demands a sturdy dress. Also, it's not all that hot today. So here is Sierra, repeating an outfit I've worn sometime frequently: belted with this thrifted double-wrap belt, in a silhouette I've come to prefer when I wear this dress. I like the earthiness of the tan leather belt on the gray wool dress. It's a combination I think I'll like even better come the autumn, but it's not bad now as a muted, earthy, neutral summer look.
Wearing my tatty old Birk Floridas, just because I put my feet in them when I got up this morning. Doing my best to wear them into the ground this summer, because this really is their last season, I think. They were pretty worn-out when I got them, and unlike leather Birks, I don't think they'll be particularly worth saving. But they sure do feel good on my feet, as well as offering a little muted, earthy contrast to my hemline.
I do really groove on the belted shape of this dress. I might never wear it loose again.
And now that I'm armored for the vet visit, on with the rest of the day.
P.S.: This makes 5 July wears for Sierra, bringing her up to tie with Audrey. So much for I probably won't reach for this dress. Brooklyn is in second place, with 4 wears. The Maggies each have 3. Camellia, Fiona, and Willow tie for fourth place with 2 wears each. My Pact cotton sheath dress is in last place, with 1 wear. And you know, it's all good. I consciously work to wear what I have, but that goes in waves, not in some strict linear rotation. Day to day, I'm happy to shop my closet, and also to be reminded to wear things, which is the main virtue of my dress-tracker spreadsheet.
Maybe in the new year I'll get motivated and add all my wardrobe items to a new spreadsheet, so that I can check them off in the same way. I mean, that seems like a lot of work to set up, but on the other hand, the daily record really does prompt me to wear things. I notice when I haven't worn something, which then presents me with a choice I wouldn't have thought about otherwise. Items don't become invisible in my closet, because on the spreadsheet they're staring me in the face. Also, noting my patterns of wear is just interesting to me. I don't know what they mean, necessarily. At this point, I really don't own an item of clothing that I don't like. But I do think that I'd wear my whole wardrobe better if I were keeping a record of every item I put on.
Again, a lot of work, just for clothes. But kind of worth thinking about, maybe.
Oh, also, on the subject of not having clothes I don't like, I've decided to re-posh my red Pact leggings. I want to love them. But wearing them in the airport last month for hours and hours, when we were standing in line on Monday night to get a flight out for Thursday, I really noticed how not-high-enough the rise is, and how much they were riding down from my waist, uncomfortably. They would fit someone better who had flatter abs than I do. So I'm going to move them along and possibly, eventually, replace them with some red Snag tights instead.
BEDTIME UPDATE:
*Walked 5.25 miles today
*Dora to vet, where she was more than usually terrified for no good reason that I could discern. But we came away with a prescription for a little doggy Prozac (yes, really), which we've now begun.
*Had some nice apple-bourbon chicken sausages with applesauce and sweet kale salad for supper. All easy and out of a package, a jar, or a kit (though I did make the salad dressing --- salad itself was chopped kale and cabbage, with pepitos and dried cranberries for some crunch and sweetness).
*Viking Son to work, Artgirl home, which was nice.
*Did some copy-editing, will do more tomorrow.
*Trying to amass a poetry submission and decide where to send it. Also trying to finish a short story and decide where to send it.
*Waiting for Zyrtec to kick in --- sudden attack of allergies. I'm going to crate Dora in a few minutes with her bedtime supper installment, then sit here in the dark and read while she thinks about lying down and going to sleep. I used to do this with toddlers. Plus ça change and all that.
*Thinking again about dyeing this Sierra. Someone had a photo of a Sierra dyed with Jacquard Spruce acid dye, and my goodness, it was pretty. Not quite the same color as my Pacific Brooklyn, but that kind of green. A lot like the Wool& "Pine" color, but more heathered. I could see my redyed red cotton cardigan from last year with a dress that color . . . and my tan belt . . . and really almost any of my cardigans, now that I think of it, plus tights and leggings in various blues . . . really really thinking about that.
*But now I'm going to put the dog to bed.
